Ravel

Really though? When it's essentially the only human experience that is truly universal, that we all will die, why do we have such a bad relationship with it? Stephen wonders if the fear of death is something religion does to inspire fear to win converts. "Oh death, where is your sting?" Perhaps we got it all wrong and what we thought was a sting was a kiss all along! Mentioned in the episode: Twen...

It's about time we check in on our thoughts on money, huh? A lot has changes since the teen episodes of our podcast and Josh is wondering "does it matter where money comes from?" Unsurprisingly, we talk about the implications of philanthropy, giving vs tithing mindset, the churches that are greasy and gross about money, and the ones who could be doing it better. Mentioned in the episode: 18. Our 2...

Why don't more people wonder about what Jesus himself thought the church would be? Would Jesus like what we've done with the place? Or would he think we completely missed the mark from what he had in mind when he told Peter "upon this rock I will build my church"? These questions and more as we grapple with the greek ecclesia and play a wild hypothetical when Stephen asks Emily what would happen i...

Stephen has officially entered his atheist Philosophy Era (think Taylor Swift's Reputation Era with equal amounts of confidence with a dash of ennui-bordering-on-nihilism) and wants to play with the classic thought experiment presented by Blaise Pascal: the famous "wager." We discuss the misconceptions and misapplications as used by evangelical Christian apologists as well as Pascal's thoughts on...

We at the pod are using the classic New Year energy to reevaluate priorities and goals and have come to a decision to dial back the pod to an every-other-week release schedule. We have additionally decided to retire our social media presence as @ravelpod. Stay subscribed and look forward to a new episode next week! Support us: Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod f...

We're starting the year off right by talking about the cRiNgE thrown around by Christians and atheists alike. What's at the root of the cringe response? Why do we hate it? What do we love to hate it? Mentioned in the episode:  Matthew 18:15-20 Support us: Join our Patreon community and buy us a drink at patreon.com/ravelpod for as little as $3/mo! Submit a voicemail by calling 601-55RAVEL (601-557...

ROB BELL pulls up a stool to the Ravel table! We're overjoyed to bring you one final audio offering in the year of our Lord, 2023, where Stephen and Emily get to spend a whole 90 minutes with the singular Robell (with one B) in the great living room in the sky. Stephen guides our time together as he deep dives into Rob's newest NOVEL entitled Where'd You Park Your Spaceship? There are readings to...

Emily is feeling reflective this year about where we've had the comforts come and go from our lives. But Stephen is feeling silly and derails the episode almost immediately by insisting the LOTR quote Emily brought to share was actually from the blockbuster film masterpiece, The Chicken Run. But then, of course, we get back on track as we talk about lovely new comforts in our lives while all three...

We're doing some soul care today while Stephen struggles with what Josh affectionately coins as "the downward dog-ness of the soul." Experiencing a darkness and a weight on the soul, we discuss the feelings of being in exile and discuss Emily's life-giving definition of self care: creating a life that you do not want to escape. Mentioned in the episode:  162. Inspired Ravel Episode 1 Kings 19 - Go...

What has us coming back, again and again, to the Bible? Josh thinks it has something to do with the nature of the written word in general, that we bias writings as more "truthy" because they are written. We discuss how we encounter writing differently over time, even when the writing isn't changing. And we ponder what Christianity would look like if we released the bias for the written word and ca...

Taking a suggestion from the voicemail box today, we consider the role of negative emotions in our lives and in our church and wonder why we're all so bent on stuffing them down and moving on. We discuss the embodiment of such emotions as what is actually called positive or negative, instead of the emotions themselves. As river water flowing through your fingers, emotions enter stage right and exi...

You'd think, with an American faith-based podcast releasing an episode so close to the holiday of Thanksgiving, that we'd enjoy a lighthearted meditation on what we're grateful for in our lives and the nature of gratitude in general... BUT NO! Instead, we dive headfirst into the harm perpetuated around the world by Eurocentric Christianity, wielding the tried-and-true tools of militarized empire i...

What begins as an exercise in classifying religion ends in a deeply personal conversation about the impacts of eschatological theology. We adopt a comparative lens to view modern Christianity against its ancient expression, asking questions like "Is it a failed apocalyptic project?" and "As such, was it inevitable that it became a dominant-state religion?" And then Josh makes it personal and ask S...

We suppose it's about time we reflect and ask, "has this just been idle talk?" After all, it seems like everyone has a podcast these days! Are we guilty of the same old theobro energy that we find so problematic or are we part of a reclamation of normal people doing theology? We'll let you come to your own conclusions. Mentioned in the episode:  Matthew 12:36 Still Unbelievable! Episode 103 - Feat...

Think of all the thoughts that haven't been thought. Or the writings that haven't been written. Where do they come from and how do they visit us in our minds? We take a voicemail today from a listener who is wondering what we mean when we say something is "inspired"? Does it necessarily have to be divine intervention? What is that creative spark that tells us to make art anew? Mentioned in the epi...

If you have a moment, would you consider listening to our humble podcast? We know you have finite time and attention, but we'd be honored to welcome you at the table. Today, we peer curiously at the ticking clock of the universe and share our experiences of time, how we try to stop it, and how present actions can not only write futures but also rewrite pasts. It's all timey-wimey Jeremy Bearimy to...

We're really leaning into the spooky season and discussing the reality of ghosts! Contemplating the mysteries of space, time, and consciousness, we think maybe one day even science could reasonably explain ghostly experiences. On a spiritual level, we think maybe they are folks who refuse to move on, spirits in limbo with unfinished business. We, of course, share our own stories. Once, when Emily...

Like, seriously, could you tell us without listening to the episode first? It seems as though "gnosticism" is a Christian boogeyman term used to slander anyone thinking outside of orthodoxy! It's been used to denigrate other denominations, deconstruction, mysticism, other religions. Can we please define our terms?! And once we do so, can we spot it in the modern world? Mentioned in the episode:  G...

STARTER PACK: We Clearly Disagree Have you ever wondered if life is somewhere out there among the stars? Maybe even looking back at us? How would your theology change? Emily brings us many questions about alien life and the impacts to our structures of belief. Mentioned in the episode:  Josh's TikTok YHP to Consider Quakerism and Panentheism (God = Universe + Something) #12 Space Trilogy by C.S. L...

The Patreon group spoke and got us to consider biblical marriage in all it's forms. What does the bible describe about marriage versus prescribe? Was Paul potentially a marriage abolitionist at the end of the day? And why does it make us uncomfortable to consider the (likely) possibility of Jesus of Nazareth being married? Mentioned in the episode:  The Mason Mennenga Marriage Tweet 69. Let's (Fin...

How do you deal with change? Do you consider it inevitable? Do you not like change because a pocket full of coins is annoying? Jokes aside, Emily is asking today why it's so hard to affect change in certain church communities and why some changes in personal beliefs come with such high contrast. And Stephen goes on a fiery rant against "thoughts and prayers", fulfilling his role as the shows' angr...

A grandmother is sitting with her grandson and says, "In life, there are two wolves inside of you that are constantly in battle. The good wolf represents things like kindness, love, and joy while the bad wolf represents things like greed, hatred and fear." The grandson thinks about it for a moment then looks up at his grandmother and asks, "But grandmother, which one wins?" The grandmother answers...

Let's dive into some psychoanalysis and "get heady" with our good friend Lacan. Josh offers a new angle on the ravel metaphor by introducing us to the "quilting point", all leading to the question: how do we avoid the Arrival Fallacy? Be sure to play along and tap through the links here in the show notes! Mentioned in the episode:  What Is The Quilting Point? Article (with referenced photo of red...

We're asked to interrogate the sentiment behind "I don't know, I'm not God" when a listen calls in (601-557-2835) with a bit of feedback from our recent episode on the Trinity. So we dig into the limits of human knowledge, where we believe there may be true unknowables, and discuss the implications of the first story of sin in the bible being humanity eating of the Tree of Knowledge. Mentioned in...

So you may have seen this making the TikTok rounds in recent weeks... The "Sparkle Creed" is a radical take on Christian inclusivity that got some folks fired up! Emily has spent some time dwelling on it's contents and it's message and has some thoughts . We ravel through the language of the Sparkle Creed, comparing and contrasting to the Creeds of tradition, and by the end of it all, we end up cr...